Latest news with #JohnCusack
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Far-left actor John Cusack says Iran 'should get' nukes to protect Middle East from US and Israel
Anti-Israel and anti-Trump actor John Cusack expressed hope last Friday that Iran will get a nuclear weapon. In a post shared to X, the actor said Iran should get a nuclear weapon so that it can deter the U.S. and Israel's aggression in the Middle East. "Iran will surely rush to get a nuclear weapon- and they should get one," he wrote, adding, "it's the only way to deter US and Israel from bombing every country in Middle East." Cusack published his post almost a week after President Donald Trump ordered U.S. military strikes on three major Iranian facilities believed to be developing nuclear weapons. Long-range B-2 stealth bomber aircraft dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on the locations on June 21 in an attack that Trump called "a spectacular military success." Cusack has been harshly critical of Israel's actions in its war in Gaza and war with Iran on social media. Prior to posting support for Iran getting nukes, he appeared to suggest that U.S. support for Israel meant the country was supporting a "genocidal" regime. He wrote, "Blind allegiance for Israel is alliance to a genocidal regeme[sic] - it's a nation state - run [by] a murderous gangster - not some fixed star." Earlier, he posted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been killing innocent children, and he accused the U.S. of being complicit. The actor also condemned both countries for recent strikes in Lebanon. "Isreal [sic] bombs Lebanon! [W]ell they can't have any days when they are not illegally bombing someone while US grovels," he wrote. Additionally, Cusack posted that democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City mayoral Democratic primary was a "f--- you to billionaires, dem establishment, and the genocide in Gaza - the bombing of Iran." And in a post from last Wednesday, Cusack accused Israeli soldiers of murdering innocent Palestinians seeking aid and blasted Democratic Party figures for not speaking out about it. "The fact that so many in the dem party will not speak out and work every day to stop this genocide - Should haunt them for the rest of their lives - and end their political careers," he wrote in part.
Buzz Feed
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Underrated Canceled TV Shows
For every show that feels like it majorly overstayed its welcome, cough — Grey's Anatomy — there always seems to be another show that studios prematurely axe at exactly the same time. Hundreds of television shows fail to catch the attention of general audiences year after year and ultimately get cancelled after a slew of poor ratings and lack of fanfare. However, some of these shows are genuine hidden treasures and don't deserve to be buried by the algorithms of popular streamers. In our current cultural landscape that is so obsessed with nostalgia and reboots, I've ranked 10 shows that I believe deserve their turn on Hollywood's reboot ride. Some you probably haven't heard of (or, more likely, watched) some of them. However, I highly recommend taking a day to binge. House of Anubis (2011 to 2013) Many Gen Z'ers will understand why this show is on the list, but for those who don't, just know that House of Anubis was Nickelodeon's best venture into the mystery genre. Some would argue it's Are You Afraid of the Dark? or that one scary episode of SpongeBob SquarePants where he gets stranded in that town and can't leave, but it's really this show. The perfect blend of mystery, British accents, and impeccable uniforms. It is a must-watch and due for a reboot! High Fidelity (2020) A reboot within a reboot — what's not to love? High Fidelity is the 2020 reboot of John Cusack's 2000 film of the same name, and it was the best TV show I watched that year, and I watched a lot during lockdown. It also has a Black female lead, played by Zoë Kravitz, who gave an absolutely amazing performance. So, to me, I think Hulu TV execs need to give it a second, I mean third, chance! Fear Itself (2008) A victim of underwhelming ratings that deserved better. Fear Itself is a masterful anthology horror series that had some really unique episodes and deserved to have multiple seasons. It didn't even get to air all of its episodes that summer on NBC. I'd give an arm and a leg for this one to come back from the dead. Harper's Island (2009) Another underrated gem that CBS canceled. The greatest whodunnit television series of all time, and there was definitely some plot left to continue the show for at least two more seasons. We, the fans, were robbed, and we want our show back! 1899 (2022) From the creators of the groundbreaking, jaw-dropping thriller, Dark, there's another mind-bending, altogether bonkers show whose time was cut too short. It's a good sci-fi with an international cast and should have been given more room to breathe. I Am Not Okay With This (2020) It ended with a frustrating cliffhanger, and fans never got an answer, so yeah, this one needs to be uncanceled immediately. And while I know they're older and grown adults adults, I want the OG cast! Rome (2005-2007) Great show. High production costs. So, of course, it ended up canceled instead of landing on lists like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. But Rome absolutely deserves to be in that tier, if not above it. HBO needs to cease with the GOT spinoffs and bring back this historical masterpiece. The Wilds (2020) A feminine take on Lord of the Flies and an even better (dare I say) version of Yellowjackets. Of course, it only had one season; if it kept going, it would have been too powerful. But jokes aside, this show was good and the actors equally as much — a fun watch and would make for a great multi-season show. Generation (2021) A funny, teen show that, in my opinion, had the best depiction of the average Gen Z'er. It didn't last long, but my memories of laughing out loud from this show did. Just absolute fun, and that's what we all need now more than ever. Let's hope HBO Max is listening... And Grand Army (2020) The greatest teen drama show of the past decade. Grand Army may have lacked high ratings, but it made up for it with its rich, authentic storytelling. A very diverse cast, all of whom deserved better, and frankly so did the show's marketing. Which recently canceled show would you dig back up from the grave? Share all your thoughts in the comments!
The Herald Scotland
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
The 2001 album hailed as a 'dizzy, magical voyage of self-discovery'
THERE'S a nice scene in the 2000 film High Fidelity, in which John Cusack's engaging character, the owner of a Chicago record store, murmurs confidently to a colleague: 'I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs, by The Beta Band'. He then slides a disc into the CD player: the opening track, Dry the Rain, fills the store. Customer: 'Who is that?'. Cusack: 'The Beta Band'. Customer (nodding approvingly): 'It's good'. Cusack (sagely): 'I know'. Back then, The Beta Band — Steve Mason (vocals/guitars), John Maclean (samplers/percussion), Robin Jones (drums) and Richard Greentree (bass) — were in vogue, having been championed by the music press and finding favour with a large and enthusiastic fanbase and with such influential musicians as Noel Gallagher. In 2001 they were invited to support Radiohead on a US and Canada tour. They had three top 20 albums between 1999 and 2004 before going their separate ways, but recently announced a reunion tour. It gets underway in September. The band, who first came together in Fife and Edinburgh and fully blossomed in London, released a debut EP, Champion Versions, in July 1997, on a small indie label, Regal Recordings, a Parlophone imprint. It opened with Dry the Rain, which as of today has chalked up some 42 million hits on Spotify. As Mojo magazine's Jim Irvin would say of it, the EP 'made a refreshing change from standard indie fare, displaying an acute awareness of feel and dynamics lacking in most nascent bands'. Two other EPs followed in 1998: The Patty Patty Sound, in March, and Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos, four months later. In October all three materialised on a CD, The Three EPs – the one referenced by Cusack in High Fidelity. 'What makes The Beta Band such a powerful proposition is their ability to pervert the traditional campfire ballad in myriad ways, without appearing contrived … or losing its kernel of warmth', Keith Cameron wrote approvingly in the NME. 'Collectively, these 12 songs leave you gasping, not only at the frenzied sense of enterprise but also the combustible emotional depths therein'. One New Zealand critic noted: 'When Beck made pop fizzy again, The Beta Band inhaled big time. In this collection … folk, hip-hop and the hazy psychedelic dub aesthetic of Primal Scream joyously elope in the whacked-out world of the avant-garde. Unconsciously addictive, this is an album whose halcyon overtones super-glue the listener to the speakers …' Interviewing the band at the time of its release, Mojo's Irvin brought up the common use of the descriptions ''stoned' and 'lo-fi', which had studded more than a few reviews of the original EPs. 'Drugs are just ridiculous', Mason responded. 'We're interested in making music so good that drugs become irrelevant. And all this 'lo-fi' nonsense is just a farce. When we're recording we're trying to get the best sound possible'. Read more Beta Band: 'You know, I find it offensive, the music business and most of the records being made in this country', he added. 'It makes me angry. Especially because people are taken in by it and led to believe that anything different is strange and weird and should be avoided. There's a horrible normality being fed to everyone'. Live, the quartet were an engrossing and unpredictable act. In September 1998, the Independent's Ben Thompson witnessed them at a gig in the capital and pronounced them – with not a little justification – as the most exciting new British band to emerge in the last year-and-a-half by a country mile. 'You know that magical feeling when the music sounds so strange it feels like a secret', he enthused, 'and you look onstage to the people who are making it and then offstage into the faces of the audience, and you realise that hundreds of people are getting the secret at the exact same time? That's what the atmosphere tends to be like when The Beta Band play live'. The 'strange, surging, pagan, deceptively simple music' was a shot in the arm of the 'prone form of the four-piece pop group', he added; the band filled entire evenings with a 'warped and wonderful hybrid of great music, terrible poetry, and alarming videos of strange rituals on Scottish hillsides'. Expectations surrounding the 1999 debut album, The Beta Band, were therefore high, but it turned out to be more unfocused, and perhaps unfinished, than anyone had foreseen. In an episode that came to be much-quoted, the band even dismissed the album out of hand. Mason informed NME: 'It's definitely the worst record we've ever made and it's probably one of the worst records that'll come out this year…But we can always do better. Next time. … It's got some terrible songs on it, our album. None of them are fully realised or fully even written. Half-written songs with jams in the middle'. The Radiohead tour in 2001 allowed The Beta Band to showcase material from their second album, Hot Shots II. 'We never liked the idea of supporting people', Mason told Rolling Stone, 'but I think playing with Radiohead is a really good opportunity for us. All these bands from Britain have been touted as this amazing new thing that was going to save rock & roll. But I think our band and Radiohead can justify, not the hype, but the excitement that's around us in America.' Hot Shots II is a consistently fine album, full of beguiling moments, from the opening tracks, Squares, and Al Sharp, onwards. Human Being samples Carole King's classic, It's Too Late. Gone is one of their enduringly poignant songs. There are layered vocals, and delicate sonic flourishes. It remains the high point of their career. The band were happy with it – certainly, much more so than with the debut album – and it showed. The album narrowly missed out on a top 10 placing in the UK charts. The New York Daily News summed it up thus: 'While the Scottish foursome's music has the dreamy quality of ambient music and the sexy dub bass of trip-hop, it's far more song-oriented, graced as it is by conventional tunes, hooks and choruses'. The Guardian's Alexis Petridis was another admirer, writing after an admittedly uncomfortable interview with the band (the quartet had a reputation, back then, as occasionally 'difficult' interviewees): 'By contrast to their debut, this year's follow-up, Hot Shots II, is fantastic. It boasts incisive songwriting, crisp production from R&B veteran C-Swing [Colin Emmanuel], and a thrilling attitude to sonic experimentation … They have finally produced an album they are proud of. They may well be among the best groups in the world. Yet despite all this, in Britain, Hot Shots II has sold no better than their debut'. Then there was this, from Rolling Stone magazine (which had found the debut album chaotic and unwieldy): "Hot Shots II does its best to return to the epic soundscapes of The Three E.P.'s; the long grooves and easy melodies are back, and the band's tendency toward the diffuse has been reined in. "The group's new self-control is evident on the gorgeous 'Gone', a minimalist ballad featuring only cooing vocals, lilting piano, and a quiet guitar and bass. 'Human Being' is an archetypal Beta Band number, tossing in horns, turntable scratches, harmonica, acoustic strumming and chant-like singing before devolving into a squealing guitar and organ rave-up. It's a heady, eclectic mix, and, like the best of the band's work, as satisfying as it is unique". NME also welcomed the Beta Band back into the fold: "Despite its gung-ho name, 'Hot Shots II' is a dizzy, magical voyage of self-discovery - concise where its predecessor was unfocused, immediate where the pop urge was once lacking. The album's original first single, 'Squares', is still trumped by I Monster's incandescent 'Daydream In Blue', but beyond that, this sounds practically peerless". Uncut magazine, for its part, was struck by the "monk-like close harmonies", which gave the impression of having been sculpted in three dimensions: "the way they soar, arc, cluster and braid is breathtaking". The album was sharply produced in a fully contemporary sense — ultra-glossy, big-sounding, with huge bottom end and tuff beats". The Beta Band would go on to release an equally acclaimed third (and final) studio album, Heroes to Zeros, in 2004, before breaking up. They embarked on a farewell tour that year, the last gig taking place at Edinburgh's Liquid Room on December 5. For all the critical acclaim that had come their way, actual commercial success had proved elusive. Read more On the Record: In a revealing interview with the Guardian's Dave Simpson that November, Mason revealed that the band had subsisted for years on 'McDonald's-type wages' and had their domestic phone lines cut off. 'I asked the accountant how much money was in the band account and he said 'Absolutely nothing',' Mason added. The debt to the record company stands at £1.2m. 'I always imagined we'd be as big as Radiohead,' he continued, 'but it hasn't happened. I still can't understand why'. Mason went on to enjoy a solo career; Maclean made his name as a film director (Slow West, a western starring Michael Fassbender, and 2025's acclaimed Tornado); Jones has worked on set design and costume for various films; Greentree turned his hand, successfully, to carpentry. Twenty one years after the band's demise, Beta fans — and there are many — are delighted that the quartet is re-uniting for a series of gigs in the UK, the US and Canada. 'Sold out' notices have gone up at venue after venue. The first two shows are at the Barrowland, on September 25 and 26. The Three EPs is being reissued on heavyweight double vinyl this summer, too.
Engadget
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Mixtape turned me back into a Millennial teenage dirtbag
Mixtape is the answer to the question, 'What if the movie High Fidelity was a video game?' It's not a perfect analogy, but it's pretty damn close, and either way it's a sign that Mixtape is going to be a fabulous slice of late-1990s, early-2000s nostalgia, complete with a banging soundtrack. You can hear it in the trailers — Mixtape absolutely nails the classic Moviefone tone, and it seems that this vibe extends to the full game. I played roughly 30 minutes of Mixtape at Summer Game Fest 2025, and in that time I became enamored with the game's lead character, a rebellious and insufferably cool teenager named Rockford who's about to leave suburbia to pursue her dreams of becoming a music supervisor in New York City. She talks directly to the player as she introduces her two also-very-cool best friends and cues up the game's music, breaking the fourth wall just like John Cusack. Most of the game plays out in a third-person view, following along as Rockford and her friends casually skate down tree-lined streets, flee from the cops in a high-speed shopping-cart sequence, and hang out in her bedroom, looking at Polaroid pictures and CDs while planning the best way to steal liquor from her parents' stash. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Mixtape comes from The Artful Escape studio Beethoven & Dinosaur, and it similarly uses music as a core storytelling and scene-setting device. This makes perfect sense, considering the studio's founder, Johnny Galvatron, is a legit rock star based in Melbourne, Australia. Leaning into musicality also worked out well for The Artful Escape , which earned Beethoven & Dinosaur a BAFTA award in 2022. Mixtape 's soundtrack is populated by the top teenage-dirtbag bands from the 80s, 90s and slightly beyond, including DEVO, Roxy Music, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and the Cure (but not Wheatus, as far as I can tell, just to be clear). Visually, Mixtape has a painterly 3D aesthetic with gorgeous golden light and purple shadows, reminiscent of Life is Strange or Telltale's The Walking Dead series. In action, the characters move in a windswept, Spider-Verse animation style that doesn't interrupt the gameplay flow. Even soaring down winding asphalt roads on a skateboard, Rockford responds immediately to controller input and her ride isn't interrupted by stray or late animations. Mixtape looks lovely and feels great. There are also surprising little moments with alternative mechanics in the game's first half hour, including a scene straight out of Wayne's World where you make the trio headbang in a car, and another where you control two tongues making out in a close-up, Ren & Stimpy kind of cartoon realism. When Rockford explains what a music supervisor is, real-world reference images fill the screen in a tongue-in-cheek educational interlude. Throughout all of this, the music continues to roll, each song purposefully placed and given time to shine. It would be easy for Mixtape to feel like a cheap nostalgia grab, an exploitation of Millennial players' memories of skipping CDs and pre-cellphone party planning, but that simply isn't the case so far. Mixtape feels like a love letter to the early aughts, filled with surprising mechanics, beautiful graphics and all the right references executed extremely well. Mixtape is due to hit Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2025, published by Annapurna Interactive.
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The 'monster' who seized control of Beach Boys icon Brian Wilson's entire life
It was one of the strangest relationships in pop history - the therapist who took complete control of Beach Boy Brian Wilson's life when he was at his weakest. Eugene Landy was portrayed as a manipulative monster in John Cusack's 2015 movie Love & Mercy.
